Mishpatim | Vibrations of our Needs

וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר תָּשִׂ֖ים לִפְנֵיהֶֽם׃

And these are the judgments to set before them:

Exodus 21:1

This week's Torah portion, Mishpatim, begins with a stroke on the Torah scroll, the Hebrew letter vav. In Jewish mysticism, this stroke is black fire on white fire. It signifies connection. What follows is connected to what came before.

The words we speak, the judgments we make, are connected to what came before. You may not know what this was or how it is coming through now. I may not know what I carry from my ancestors, my culture, my own life's pain and joys. This is why we must take great care to look deeply and understand the source of our judgments and laws.

Mishpatim are judgments in the form of laws that arise from society's understanding of how to create justice. The 53 mishpatim set forth in this week's Torah portion grow out of the 10 foundational words, dibrot, that the people heard and received at Sinai. These are what we usually think of as the Ten Commandments.

Zen poet and teacher Thich Nhat Hanh explained that the words we use, the spiritual traditions they bring forth, arise out of historic conditions. Historic  conditions of the Jewish people and then the Christian people after us created the interpretation of the words received at Sinai as "commandments."

Understanding these words as commandments is one strategy for bringing about an imperative to center them in our lives and societies. In Jewish tradition, spoken words transform into things and create universes. This is the beginning of everything.  We humans are created with the superpower and responsibility to speak worlds into existence.

When we understand the ten foundational dibrot as vibrations that create worlds, we touch the moment of creation of the world as we know it. This was the moment at Sinai in Torah, an individual and collective revelation. The mishpatim and how we act upon them present us with an opportunity to recreate the ten vibrations day to day, moment to moment.

Here is one of the 53 mishpatim in this week's Torah portion:

וְגֵ֖ר לֹ֣א תִלְחָ֑ץ וְאַתֶּ֗ם יְדַעְתֶּם֙ אֶת־נֶ֣פֶשׁ הַגֵּ֔ר כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃

You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 23:9

This mishpat transmits into our hearts and societies the vibrations from Sinai of non-harming in our actions and speech. As we go through the laws of Mishpatim this week and wrestle with them, as we pick and choose which ones will uplift us to compassion and open heart mind, let us also find skillful means to organize our lives around the insights we receive from Torah and our other spiritual guides.

A Torah-Inspired Practice
: What world am I speaking into existence with these words?

• Before speaking words to or about someone who is a stranger to you,
  pause and ask yourself, what world am I speaking into existence with my words?
• How am I using this precious gift of speech with these words? In Jewish tradition, our speech is the very essence of our humanness. When I take care of my heart so that I speak into existence a world of more empathy, more compassion, more care, I step into my essential humanness.
• How can I reframe my words to speak the world I am yearning for into existence?

Nonviolent Communication (NVC) practice: Laws as Strategies to Meet Needs

Applying NVC, the words we choose are strategies to meet core universal needs such as love, belonging, connection, security and honesty. Society's laws can be seen as strategies to meet the deepest needs and values of lawmakers. In NVC, we advocate for systems that meet everyone's needs. We identify the universal needs  all life wants our systems to protect. We work for a world where the ones making decisions, including setting laws, include the needs of everyone affected by the laws. Laws carry the deeper values and are the means we employ to activate them.

Here is a practice using a basic NVC principle to look at laws.

You can pick a law in your town or country, or one of the laws we receive in Torah, such as one of the 10 vibrations or one of the mishpatim in this week's Torah portion.

Use this basic NVC template:

When I read (e.g., honor your father and mother, don't mix milk with meat etc.) I feel (this feelings list may help you name your feelings) because I find this value or I don't find this value in it (the needs list may help you connect with the underlying needs and values that are causing your feelings).

From here you may want to bring yourself fully present with the feelings and needs which carry the life energy that is speaking through you when you encounter this law. (Deepening option: Here is a worksheet practice from Bay NVC to dig more deeply into this way of connecting with your inner experience when you look at these laws.)

As curiosity arises in you about the source of your unmet needs, switch to inquiring into needs that these laws may be meant to meet? How does Life want to live through these needs?

Finding strategies that meet everyone's needs

Are there strategies, new laws or new approaches, that could meet the needs of everyone affected?

The aim of Nonviolent Communication is to create relationships, systems and a world where everyone's needs are valued and ultimately met.